


Skating with Yuuri Katsuki

by Multiple_Universes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Canon Universe, Fluff, M/M, Reality TV, skating with the stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-12 22:59:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13557399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multiple_Universes/pseuds/Multiple_Universes
Summary: When Victor is invited to participate in the Russian version of Skating with the Stars he accepts, assuming that Yuuri is also invited and thinking that it will be lots of fun. But, sadly, things rarely go as expected and the media, as always, spreads false lies.





	1. The Days Before

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Adrianna99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrianna99/gifts).



> I wrote this fic for Adrianna99, who was one of the two winners of my fic giveaway. The prompt I got was to write something about Yuuri and Victor post-season 1. I got really into this idea, so that what was initially meant to be a 1k fic turned into a 2 chaptered story, oops! There will be two chapters, because the second one will be in a slightly different style from the first to match the reality TV show format.  
> A quick note on the character that appears in this chapter and the characters that will appear in the next: to make my life easier, I borrowed names of real people who were in the Russian version of Skating with the Stars and then I sort of guessed at their personalities. I hope that’s okay. No offence was intended towards the people with these names.

Russian newspapers exploded with the news almost in perfect synch with each other, the headlines demanding justice and piling on all of the accusations.

_“Cheating on our National Hero?”_

_“Victor Nikiforov’s Broken Heart”_

Half the pages were full of big colour photographs that, they thought, proved everything. But, as always, they’d all gotten the wrong end of the stick.

 

_Four weeks earlier_

Victor’s phone rang around lunchtime and he stared at the name of the caller in surprise.

Yuuri, who was sitting on the couch next to him when the phone rang, read the name, but remained as in the dark as before.

“Yes?” Victor answered the call in Russian.

He listened to the caller and said “yes” several more times. His face spread in a big smile as he said the last “yes” along with an “of course” and then he ended his call.

“Who was that?” Yuuri asked.

Victor gave him a mischievous smile. “I just signed us up for the next season of Skating with the Stars.”

“What?”

Technically, Victor signed _himself_ up for Skating with the Stars. The caller, one of the producers of the show for Russian television, wanted to know if the living legend was willing to participate. At no point in the conversation did he mention anything about a skater named Yuuri Katsuki, but Victor, so used to going everywhere with Yuuri, had naturally assumed that if he was invited, so was his fiancé. Naturally.

And, so, when they showed up at the skating rink to meet the other contestants together and Victor talked like Yuuri was going to participate as well, the producer pulled several people aside and asked them in a whisper if there was any reason why Yuuri _couldn’t_ participate.

“It will make things more interesting,” he whispered, “just find him a partner, alright?”

“So…” Victor said nonchalantly from the other end of the room, as if he could hear the producer perfectly, “who will we be paired up with?”

And everyone knew then that Victor knew _exactly_ what he’d signed himself and his fiancé for. He knew they wouldn’t skate together, but compete against each other instead.

“Ah!” the producer exclaimed. “Unfortunately, Yuuri’s partner couldn’t make it on time. She’ll be here…” He looked at one of the organizers.

“In an hour,” the woman said, frantically texting someone.

“Excelllent!” Victor said and smiled.

 

As promised, an hour later Yuuri’s partner was standing in front of him with a shy smile on her face.

“H-hello,” she said in English with just a hint of an accent.

She was short and really cute with dark eyes and hair that barely reached her shoulders.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” he introduced himself.

“Chulpan Khamatova,” she said in response.

“Mrs. Khamatova –” Yuuri began, noticing the ring on her finger.

“Please, call me Chulpan,” she insisted.

“It’s an honour,” Yuuri said with a bow. “I promise to do my best.”

Chulpan gave Victor a questioning look and got a big smile in return. He put a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. “Look after my Yuuri,” he said.

“U-um…” Yuuri blushed.

Even Chulpan was blushing a little at this request. “I will,” she promised with the expression of a serious schoolgirl and broke out into a big smile.

 

The first day of practice together was meant for everyone to take it easy.

Victor Nikiforov, who got a famous ballerina (“who else can suit the living legend?” the producer had asked rhetorically) as his partner, was going around on the ice, gently coaxing her into loosening up a little and not to skate so rigidly.

The other skaters were having mixed luck with their partners. Some were lucky enough to end up with celebrities who’d skated a little before, others – like Victor – had no such luck, or – also like Victor – got partners who were very conscious of the damage one fall could do to their career.

“Should we try –?” Yuuri offered, but Chulpan had beat him to it and was already out on the ice, skating backwards around the rink.

With a smile, Yuuri joined her.

“Did you take lessons?” Yuuri asked once he joined her.

“I used to when I went to school,” she admitted and made a slow turn.

She reached out and Yuuri took her hand. They went around together.

“To be honest,” she admitted, “I was intimidated by you at first. I’m sorry. It was really silly of me.”

“What? Intimidated by me?” he asked with a blush and a nervous laugh.

“You’re Victor Alexeyevich’s fiancé!” she exclaimed.

“Why is that a reason to be intimidated?” Yuuri asked.

She turned around and took his other hand so that she was going backward while Yuuri was the one going forwards. “Because he’s a big celebrity.” She explained simply. “Don’t you know about the actors and actresses that tried to seduce him?”

She giggled at the look on Yuuri’s face. “I have a good story for you, then!” she exclaimed.

 

Practice ended and everyone headed back to the change rooms.

Yuuri kept throwing looks at Victor. He could see how exhausted the man was after just one session. Victor did his best to hide it, of course, but Yuuri could spot the signs anyway.

“Let’s go get some ice cream,” he said to Victor.

He turned and smiled and the fatigue was almost gone from his face. Almost. “Good idea!”

“Can I invite Chulpan to come with us?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Yuuri waited for Victor to say something about inviting the ballerina, but Victor acted as if he’d forgotten that she existed.

_It’s that bad, is it?_ Yuuri thought and said nothing.

Afterwards, he heard from Chulpan that in the women’s change room the ballerina went into a long rant about spoiled figure skaters and having a greater opinion of some of them and being really disappointed.

It wasn’t like Victor to hate someone at first sight. He went out of his way to be nice to people and Yuuri knew that he did everything he could to like them, but now he seemed to have found the exception.

Yuuri took his hand with a smile. He knew that Victor wouldn’t back out of the competition now, no matter what happened. Yuuri rose to his feet and planted a kiss on Victor’s cheek.

He felt Victor put an arm around him and wished he’d given him a proper kiss instead.

Someone cleared their throat pointedly, making Yuuri jump. He’d completely forgotten that they weren’t alone!

“S-sorry!” Yuuri stammered out under the collective gaze of every man in the room.

 

“You really love him, don’t you?”

Yuuri blushed and stared at Chulpan, who was skating by his side on the ice.

It was the second day of practice. This time they were all assigned skating rinks and practice schedules so that they had several hours a day when they would get the ice all to themselves.

“Why do you say that?” Victor’s fiancé asked.

“Because of the way you look at him. Because you watch him and try to do things that will make him happy. When we went out for ice cream together you saw how upset he was with his partner and you did your best to cheer him up.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, “but how do you know?”

Chulpan laughed. “I’ve been married to the man I love for several years now. I know these sorts of things.”

“No talking!” their coach shouted, startling them both.

The skating pairs were divided into two teams, each of which had its own coach, so that, in the end, the competition wasn’t just between the different pairs, but also between coaches. As luck would have it, Victor got a different coach from Yuuri.

Actually, when Yuuri thought about it, he suspected that luck had nothing to do with it: they’d probably just decided that it made things even more interesting.

The second thing that surprised him was that when choosing coaches they didn’t get Yakov to be one of them.

Perhaps it was for the best.

He tried to focus on the skating and not on how Victor was doing. Victor would be alright, he told himself. He would find a way to get along with his partner, he was sure.

 

_Three weeks earlier_

They sat on the sofa one evening, watching TV.

Victor, who had a tendency to doze off halfway into the movie, was fully awake this time. He had an arm around Yuuri and there was a tension in his shoulders that wouldn’t go away.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Yuuri said after a while.

“No,” Victor said.

He’d bottled up all his frustration and, unless he let it out somehow, Yuuri was afraid he would explode.

“I’m always here, if you want to talk,” Yuuri offered.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re a good student?” Victor asked after a short pause. “The best a coach could ask for.”

Yuuri blushed and Victor leaned closer to bury his face in his fiancé’s neck. One hand slid over Yuuri’s chest. “I love you, Yuuri. Did I ever tell you that?”

“Not enough times,” Yuuri told him.

 

_Two weeks earlier_

“Chulpan gave me two tickets to the play she’ll be in tonight,” Yuuri said as he met up with Victor after that day’s practice.

“Play?” Victor echoed. “I thought she acted in movies.”

“She performs on stage too,” Yuuri told him.

They dressed in their best that evening. Yuuri caught Victor before they reached the door and adjusted his tie.

He smiled up at Victor, hoping that this, one of their rare nights out together, would be enjoyable.

Victor returned the smile and said nothing when Yuuri held on to the tie a little bit longer than necessary.

There was something about the St. Petersburg nightlife that was quite unlike the nightlife in any other city. Each time Yuuri compared it to life in Detroit, he couldn’t help being surprised by the contrast between the two.

Life in Detroit was wild and dangerous. Life in St. Petersburg was all about culture and, even if it wasn’t actually true, when he went out in the evening he couldn’t shake the feeling that the city’s bars were full of people having deep philosophical discussions.

The theatre where Chulpan was performing was smaller than Yuuri had expected, but everyone was well-dressed and carried themselves with an air of dignity as if they were all at a palace.

Victor offered Yuuri his arm and he leant on it with a smile. They spent the rest of the evening in that comfortable closeness.

When Chulpan came out on stage and amazed them with her acting ability, they could tell they were both equally surprised without even looking at each other.

And they both applauded enthusiastically when they play finished.

“I had so much fun!” Victor said on his way back. “Give Chulpan my thanks! I –”

Yuuri caught him in a kiss, forgetting once again that they were in a public place.

But that didn’t matter: the metro carriage was empty except for two elderly ladies.

 

_One day earlier_

Their training schedule for the show was more gruelling than his schedule for competitions, but still Yuuri found himself enjoying it.

Chulpan brought her acting abilities to her skating and together they prepared several interesting programs.

All of the days of the competition came with a prompt. Some of them were difficult for him to figure out, while others were easy. Luckily, he had his coach and Chulpan to help with coming up with the routines.

Each routine was like a little play and he was proud of the end result. He was even looking forward to skating them in front of others.

And then the big day came and the world turned upside down.


	2. The Fan Favourite

Two figures skated across the ice and joined each other right in front of the camera.

“Good evening, dear friends! We’re happy to see you here at _Skating with the Stars_ and we’re its hosts – Irina Slutskaya and Evgeni Plushenko!” the two hosts said, taking turns when they spoke and ending with each of them saying their own names.

“Fourteen figure skaters and fourteen people who have nothing to do with figure skating,” Slutskaya began, “divided up into pairs in order to compete against each other in creating the most unforgettable figure skating programs.”

“The end result of this partnership you will soon see with your own eyes!” Plushenko announced.

They smiled as the audience sitting around the ice rink cheered happily.

“Which means this is the perfect time to explain the rules for our competition!” Slutskaya continued. “For the next four programs each pair will get points based on their performance. After these four programs the pair with the lowest number of points will be eliminated from the competition.”

“But there’s more!” Plushenko added. “You, dear viewer, can decide who stays and who leaves. Call the number on your screen or send a text to support your favourite pair!”

Slutskaya continued. “You can decide the outcome of the competition! It isn’t just all in the hands of the judges! And now let’s find out who these judges will be!”

They introduced the judges one at a time, announcing their titles. Three of them were famous actors. One of them was the well-known coach Yakov Feltsman himself and the last was another famous coach: Tatyana Tarasova, who’d once trained several of the world’s living legends. She was the main judge on the show.

The hosts asked her to announce the theme for that day’s competition.

“It brings me great joy to be here,” she began as the camera showed each of the judges in turn. She went on for a long time. Some people nodded along. Yakov seemed to be scowling. “Today’s theme,” she finally said, “is songs from our country’s past.”

The hosts thanked her politely.

“Our first contestants are an unusual pair,” Slutskaya began. “When Japan’s ace, Yuuri Katsuki, invited his partner Chulpan Khamatova to his house do you know what she expected?”

“A ticket to Japan?” Plushenko asked.

“Yes, but instead he showed her his St. Petersburg apartment where, I hear, he has a big golden statue of Victor Nikiforov, his fiancé!”

Plushenko laughed. “I thought he lived with the real Victor Nikiforov. What does he need a statue for?”

Slutskaya made a dismissive gesture. “Well, of course, he does. Who do you think got the statue made?”

“Next on the ice: Yuuri Katsuki and Chulpan Khamatova!”

 

Yuuri and Chulpan stood in front of the camera in their training clothes.

“I was a little nervous at first,” Chulpan admitted. “Going on TV, competing in figure skating – I’ve never done either of those, to be honest.”

Yuuri gave her a reassuring smile. “This is my first time on a show like this,” he said, his Russian almost without an accent. “I hope the audience will enjoy our performance.”

“We will do our best, definitely,” Chulpan said with a smile.

 

There were a bunch of practice videos after that, showing them go around the rink together, Chulpan making silly faces and Yuuri laughing, both of them practicing a lift…

 

Chulpan stood in the middle of the ice in a dark blue dress with a white bow in her hair, looking up at Yuuri who stood before her in a suit. There was a tenderness in both of their eyes that the camera focused on.

The music began and Chulpan rushed to Yuuri to take him by the hand and pull him into a waltz.

“ _I remember our first student waltz in a big hall, and your voice so young and so tender, “The first waltz, will you please dance it with me?_ ””

They moved in time to the music, each step following the 1-2-3 rhythm of the waltz. Chulpan turned away from Yuuri while still holding his hands and the bow in her hair slipped off to fall on the ice.

He raised her up, getting applause from the audience. They slowed down as he lowered Chulpan back onto the ice. She turned around to face him and pulled a pair of glasses out of his front pocket and put them on for him, making a show of adjusting his tie and brushing dust off his shoulder.

“ _Yesterday we called our friends to invite them to our silver anniversary,_ ” the singer went on, “ _and the same voice said to me: “Dear friend, the first waltz, will you please dance it with me?_ ””

They took each other’s hands and went around once more, still following the rhythm, but like people who were a bit older and who’d grown to learn everything about each other. Yuuri lifted Chulpan again, letting her strike a pose with one foot resting on his thigh.

Chulpan released Yuuri and skated around the hat stand on the ice to get a shawl, which she threw over her shoulder and the young, energetic woman was replaced by an old lady.

“ _What? Yes. What? No. Thank you, dear, yes, I’m well. What do you mean? At my age?_ ” the singer asked indignantly. “ _My health? Nonsense! Waltzes will always be good for me!_ ”

And they went around a third time, this time like two people who’d grown old together, who could reach each other’s thoughts from a simple gesture.

When the music ended and they stopped the audience exploded with enthusiasm.

Yuuri turned around, shocked by this ecstatic response while Chulpan waved happily at everyone. He noticed this and waved as well. Then, still acting his part, he offered her his arm and they skated to the kiss and cry together.

The judges sat with serious expressions as they decided which scores to give the first pair. The camera passed over all of them, pausing on Yakov’s face for several seconds longer.

Still excited by the skate, the audience chanted “Bravo” as they clapped with each syllable.

The skaters in the kiss and cry waved, flattered by all the attention.

Someone screamed something incomprehensible, and loud and merry laughter followed.

Soon Slutskaya and Plushenko were back on the ice, asking the judges for their scores. With a touch of a button the scores were put on display for them to read out.

“And the technical scores for Yuuri Katsuki and Chulpan Khamatova are: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0 and 6.0!” Plushenko read out. “The maximum score on their first day!”

“And the presentation score is…” Slutskaya exclaimed as the displays, changed, flickering as if they’d all blinked and showed the same scores a second time around. She read them out dutifully as the audience cheered.

The camera showed Yuuri and Chulpan exchange surprised looks and then switched to Tarasova.

“What a great opening performance for our program!” she began. “Not only was it spot on technically, with every step following the waltz, but the acting was perfect. You could _feel_ their love for each other! You could actually see the tenderness in their eyes!”

In the kiss and cry the actress and the skater exchanged a hug.

Tarasova laughed. “I look forward to seeing your future work. Thank you!”

The hosts introduced the next pair, throwing n a few jokes about Victor getting impatient to show what he could do.

As each pair went out on the ice to compete they made more jokes on the subject. What would the living legend skate? How would he prove himself worthy of his title and his fiancé?

Find out after these messages…

Don’t go away now…

Just a few more pairs left…

 

The screen showed Victor and his partner looking ready for another day of training. The ballerina smiled politely.

“We chose our music to show our beloved country’s history and rich culture.” There must’ve been more after that, but the interview cut to showing them skating.

The ballerina fell over as she tried to skate across the ice to Victor. She got up and fell again. And again.

And then, forgetting her carefully crafted public image, she swore.

Victor skated to her and helped her up.

The people editing the program must’ve enjoyed the sight of her falling over, because another minute of undignified falls followed that. Several times Victor fell over with her, making her swear louder.

There was another interview bit after that. This time it was Victor’s turn to put on a smile and say his favourite line.

“We hope to surprise you with our skate.”

“Pleasantly surprise you,” the ballerina corrected.

The living legend went on smiling.

 

Victor stood on the ice next to the ballerina. The music stated to play and he skated across the ice, holding her by the hand.

The ballerina had a smile on her face and she raised her hands gracefully, but most of her body was still stiff as if she was locked in terror.

Everyone in the audience who expected something great from the living legend and the country’s most famous ballerina was sorely disappointed. Anyone who was waiting for a neck in neck competition between Victor and Yuuri gave a big frustrated groan.

Victor did his best. He held the ballerina all through the skate. He demonstrated several difficult lifts. He caught her each time she fell, but none of that was enough.

The scores were put on display, making both competitors frown. Tarasova took the microphone and talked about the skate being a big disappointment. It was sad, she said, and painful to watch.

At the end of the day they finished with the lowest score, far behind the other pairs.

 

Three programs later the scoreboard looked almost the same: Yuuri and Chulpan with the top score and Victor and the ballerina with the absolute worst score.

That was three weeks after the press published articles claiming Yuuri and Victor’s wedding was cancelled.

What did they think was splitting up “one of the biggest romances in sport”?

 _“You could feel their love for each other! You could actually see the tenderness in their eyes!”_ Tarasova had said and they took it and ran with it.

 

“Mr. Nikiforov, the fans are all dying to know. Tell us: is the wedding really cancelled? Is it true that Yuuri moved out into his own apartment?” a journalist asked.

Victor, who was taking a break from the ballerina’s falls on the ice, smiled at the journalist. “I don’t know where these rumours are coming from, but Yuuri and I are still getting married.”

The journalist frowned. “But what about his affair with Mrs. Khamatova?”

“What affair?” Victor asked. “Chulpan and Yuuri are very good friends.” He gave a sigh, remembering his troubles with his skating partner. “And she’s a good friend to me too.”

 _He’s in denial_ , the journalist later wrote in his article. _Victor Nikiforov, unable to cope with his relationship falling apart is just denying everything that’s happening._

When they interviewed Yuuri and he declared his love for Victor in an emphatic tone they shook their heads and called him a liar in their newspapers.

 

“This needs to stop,” Yuuri said one morning as Victor drank his coffee. “Let’s just leave the show and the rumours will stop. I’ll tell Chulpan that we can’t spend time together anymore. She’ll understand, I’m sure of it.”

He was cooking breakfast, trying to make up for the last few weeks. He felt guilty for the way things had turned out. If only they hadn’t let themselves get so carried away! But how was he to know that this would happen? He and Chulpan were just trying to have fun.

Victor shook his head. “I don’t see why we need to pull out, not when you’re doing so well.” He beamed at Yuuri. “You deserve this.” He shrugged. “Besides, the next program will be our last. We have the lowest score. It’s only fair for them to eliminate us.

Yuuri brushed a hand through Victor’s hair and kissed the top of his head. “I’m so sorry about all this.”

“Don’t be,” Victor told him. “Not when you’re giving me so much attention.” He threw a sly look at Yuuri. “I almost hope we stay longer just so I can get more attention from you.” He caught the look on Yuuri’s face. “Not that you don’t usually pay me any attention,” he added hastily.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Yuuri joked. And then, because they were all alone, gave him a playful tap on the nose.

 

“You voted and now it’s time to reveal the results!” Slutskaya announced happily.

Next to her Plushenko nodded along. “Just to remind you: the two pairs with the lowest scores are about to be eliminated from the competition and you, dear viewer, got to vote for the one you want to stay in the show!”

“And the pair leaving us today is,” Slutskaya said two names, neither of which was Victor’s.

Backstage Yuuri and Victor exchanged a look.

“Just a little longer?” Yuuri suggested in Japanese.

Victor gave a single nod. “Must be my insane popularity,” he responded, speaking in Japanese as well.

And then they both realized what he’d said.

“You don’t think…?” Victor said, dropping his voice lower.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Yuuri admitted.

Victor threw his arms around Yuuri. “I’ll see you in the finals!” he whispered half-jokingly into his ear.

It was funny at the time.

 

Five weeks later it wasn’t funny anymore.

They were the worst pair, far worse than everyone else in the show, worse than the first pair that had been eliminated. But that didn’t matter in this show.

Rating rose with each program. The producer was on top of the world. When Victor rewarded Yuuri with a kiss on national TV after a very difficult and successful skate the viewing figures rose even higher.

The figure skating world (or, at least, that part of it not sick of hearing about Yuuri and Victor) followed the competition eagerly. Bets were going around on who will win.

Tarasova took a big liking to Yuuri and didn’t even bother hiding it. When she announced the finalists she called Yuuri and Chulpan’s names last.

“Chulpan Khamatova and,” she smiled fondly, “Yurochka Katsuki.”

Victor raised his eyebrows at Yuuri. “Do I have another rival?” he joked.

Tarasova looked around the audience with an expression that suggested that they should all be as happy as she was. “I look forward to seeing all the wonderful skaters perform in the final!” Yuuri and Victor later jokingly argued if that included everyone who made it to the final or not.

“I had no doubts that we would make it to the final!” the ballerina declared. “Even if I did get a lazy partner who doesn’t want to compete all the way until the end.”

Yuuri opened his mouth to argue, but Victor put an arm around him. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

 

“Good evening, dear viewers!” Slutskaya began yet another program. “And welcome to the last day of this season of _Skating with the Stars_!”

“Today we will finally find out who is our winner!” Plushenko declared. Around him the audience cheered happily. “Just to make things interesting we decided to let the pairs perform starting with the pair which got the fewest votes from you and ending with our winners!”

“These results,” Slutskaya reminded everyone, “are based entirely on your votes!”

“And now for the first pair! Please welcome…”

No one was surprised that the pair in last place in the finals wasn’t Victor and the ballerina.

There were no scores this time and no judges.

“Around the world people are dying to know who won,” Slutskaya said before announcing the second pair and only exaggerating slightly, “but I’m afraid that you will all have to wait until the end of the program to find out!”

Again, she announced a pair that wasn’t Victor and the ballerina.

 

Victor laughed somewhere backstage while sitting next to Yuuri. “I’m getting texts from Chris, asking me who won!” He put his arms around his fiancé and rested his head on Yuuri’s shoulder.

“What did you tell him?” Yuuri asked. He barely blushed at Victor’s touch. Barely.

Victor chuckled. “That we both win either way.” He kissed Yuuri right behind the ear and now Yuuri was really blushing.

“V-Victor! People can see!”

“Mmm… Let them see.”

Yuuri didn’t know how to argue with that and put his hands over Victor’s instead.

At least the breakup rumours finally stopped. And, really, at the end of the day, did it matter which of them won?

Yes. Dear god, _yes_.

When interviewed about Yuuri and his success on the show Victor talked about his wedding plans. Once, when someone had been particularly insistent, Victor switched to talking about wedding lingerie. Rumour had it that he said something that made the journalist faint.

Yuuri avoided the questions as much as he could.

But even if they both knew which pair performed better, even if the judges had already picked a winner, it didn’t matter: the final deciding factor was the viewer’s vote.

 

The show took its time getting to the last two pairs and, of course, Yuuri and Victor were the ones who were left to the end. The show went on a commercial break that felt longer than all the others.

Victor appeared in ads, encouraging people to buy coffee. He was followed for ads with Yuuri, who drank tea and told everyone that he couldn’t relax between competitions without a cup of tea.

 

Somewhere Yuri Plisetsky was gritting his teeth impatiently. _When will they get to the important part already?_ _How can they stall for so long?_

 

There was a lot of heavy betting going on among the figure skaters.

Chris and Phichit met up in the middle of Europe for a few drinks and watched the competition unfold.

“He’ll have to get used to it,” Chris said. “They’re going to compete against each other more in the future.”

“I think Yuuri’s used to it,” Phichit countered.

“I wasn’t talking about Yuuri.”

Phichit gave him a surprised look. “Really? Yuuri told me Victor was dealing really well with it, especially considering some of the things the press wrote about them,” Phichit added, remembering headlines like “Lovers to Rivals”.

Chris’s response was only a smile. He downed another drink and called the waiter over.

Phichit’s phone lay on the table in front of them. It showed the commercial break come to an end.

 

Several million people leaned towards screens to watch.

 

“And the next pair out on the ice, the pair in second place as a result of the vote is…” Slutskaya began and paused dramatically.

The audience chanted two names.

Slutskaya turned around with a smile. “Sounds like you already know what I will say!”

Plushenko laughed and raised the microphone to his lips to complete the sentence for her.

 

Chris reclined in his seat with a smirk. “I win,” he told Phichit.

“You were right,” Phichit conceded. “Today’s lunch and dinner are both on me.”

 

Yuri laughed. “I knew it!” he exclaimed and called Otabek to ask him what he thought about the show.

 

Few people actually watched the two skates that followed, which was a big mistake on their part. Both skates matched each other in theme, telling a heart-wrenching story of a cursed love of two people unable to meet.

Victor and Yuuri met up after they both finished and caught each other. Yuuri laughed as Victor kissed his neck. He didn’t care who was watching them this time.

Or, at least, not until he heard a voice behind them exclaim, “Now isn’t the time!”

He turned around, his face deep red.

Tarasova smiled at them with a twinkle in her eye. “Now is the time to collect your prize.”

“I already got mine,” Victor told her, still holding Yuuri by the arms.

“Really! Victor!” Yuuri tried to protest, but was cut off by another kiss.

The official prize wasn’t much of a prize, but that didn’t matter. There were speeches afterwards. And more skating, of course.

Yuuri and Victor went out on the ice together, skating the story of two lovers reunited after a long separation.

 

Yuuri walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and stopped, hearing Victor’s voice.

It didn’t take him long to work out that Victor was on the phone, or who he was on the phone with.

“Tomorrow?” Victor asked. “Oh good,” he said after a pause. “See you then.” He hung up.

“Victor,” Yuuri said, walking into the room and leaning against the doorway, forgetting all about what he was wearing at the moment, “did you really bet Yakov that I would beat you in that competition?”

Victor pocketed his phone with a smile. “Yep!”

“How much?” Yuuri insisted.

Victor rose from the sofa and walked up to him. “Everything. Good thing I didn’t lose, then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Yuuri and Chulpan skate to is Three Waltzes by Klavdiya Shulzhenko. The skate is loosely based on the skate that the real life Chulpan Khamatova skated with Roman Kostomarov in the Russian version of Skating with the Stars. You can see it [here](https://youtu.be/La3qWh_EQrA?t=218).
> 
> Thank you so much for leaving comments and kudos! When I offered up to do a fic giveaway I had no idea I would end up with a 2-chapter fic with over 5k words! (...I thought it would be around 1k haha)


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